Broken Clockwork
by Akibaraneko
Summary: All Amu ever wanted was to be normal, but what happens when a certain boy enters her life, and why is he so desperate to stay away? The clock is ticking life away.. what happens when the alarm rings for that life to end? What if.. it never rings? AMUTO.


Hello everyone! Your favorite Vocaloid-loving catgirl Neko-chan is OFF HIATUS! *cue random applauding crowd* There are going to be a few different things going for now on.. For an explanation, please see my profile. But, to celebrate me being.. not hiatus-ist... I have decided to make _another_ story~ (Oh yes. You are ready to stab me I'm sure.) This is my first fanfic that isn't Vocaloid.. Enjoy! ^^;

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_Dear Diary,_

_Last night I had the most peculiar dream. No, it was _not _a nightmare of being trapped in the school hallways without my clothes. It was... much stranger. More.. alien? I'm not sure. I was in some place old. Or, at least, it certainly _felt _old. I'm not sure. It was dark, so dark I couldn't see my hand in front of my face.  
At first, it felt lonely in the darkness. I couldn't see anything, or feel anything. I was scared, terrified of being left alone. Terrified of being... left behind? I don't know what sort of feeling it was. I have never felt it before, but it was the most horrible thing I have ever experienced. It felt as if I was being abandoned, left in this darkness to be in solitude foreverafter.  
But you see, it _got worse_. After a little while it felt as if the darkness was closing in on me, crowding inward. Almost... almost as if _to crush_ me. I felt as if I was being squeezed by my neck, an invisible ring tightening around my chest to the point of pain. I have no voice to speak in this dream, though if I had I probably would have cried out. The dark was suffocating, and full of horrible things. I just knew it.  
Just when I thought the darkness would take me in as its victim, a figure appeared. It was the first thing I had seen since the dream started, the first thing my eyes could make out in the dim. It was a person. They ran to me and wrapped their arms around me and squeezed tight, and though it hurt as much as the invisible band, it was a sort of _good _pain. Not only that, I felt safe. Protected. And when I looked up into the face of this person, I couldn't see much, but what I did see was beautiful.  
This person had the most wonderful, beautiful eyes I had ever seen. They were this deep shade of blue that looked like an unbroken sky.. but that wasn't the best part. When this person looked at me, it felt as if they were seeing into me, deep into my soul, and loved me. They were eyes that were so gentle and cared so greatly...  
And then the person was so close, and I knew they were going to kiss me. I leaned upward and closed my eyes.. but instead of feeling lips, I instead felt Ami pushing me awake to tell me I was going to be late for school.  
This dream has been bothering me all day, to the point where I can't focus in anything. Whenever I close my eyes, even just for a moment, I see those indigo eyes staring at me as if I was the only thing that mattered. I don't even remember coming home. But, now that I have this all written down I can finally relax, and get along with what I need to do. Farewell for now.._

**3 YEARS LATER**

"I told you you shouldn't have stayed up late dancing to your iPod! Now we're both late!" My best friend Ran scolded me as we raced through the hallways of Seiyo High. And, as much as I hated to admit it, she was right. It seemed I never had time for singing and dancing anymore, like I used to..

"Yes, I'm sorry mother. But it was _your _choice to come into my house and help me get ready when you could have gotten to school on-time." My voice would have come out irritable if we hadn't been running, but my lack of breath produced the effect that I was just whining. Like a baby.

"But I'm practically your sister! And if I hadn't gotten you up, you'd be late for-" Ran's voice stopped short as she came to abrupt halt in front of a classroom labeled O-9 (A/N: At my school it goes A-P 1-95 heh..sorry if this confuses). She gave no warning to her sudden stop, causing me to crash into her and send us both flying into the classroom.

Before school had started, the janitors had gone through the hallways and into every room and polished the floors. I had to admit, they did a damn good job since I ended up facedown on the ground and my backpack several feet away from me. Wincing, I picked myself up and smoothed my skirt down. I didn't have any bruises, but my butt ached a little from impact. _What a way to enter school..._ and then it hit me. An entire class of eyes, including my teacher's, was aimed at me. They were all _staring. _

"You're _late _Hinamori-san, Arikawa-san. I hope you have a proper explanation for this." Behind me, I could hear Ran swallow hard before answering.

"Ah, well, Nikaidou-sensei, we woke up late and-" Her timid response was cut off sharply by his sharp, whip-like voice.

"Furthermore, you're late on _the first day of school. _I hope this isn't a daily thing for you two, or there will be serious consequences coming your way very soon." This time, Ran didn't dare speak up. A silence stretched out over the room, with all the seated students watching Nikaidou-sensei stare us down in the doorway. After what seemed like forever though, he let us take our seats.

I sat far away from Ran, all the way at the window. Turning to my left, I had a perfect view of the school field that was only slightly marred by a giant tree that had a few branches that tickled the window. It was beautiful outside today, with the smooth blue sky and puffy clouds, like cotton candy, hovering in the wind. If only I could be out there, laying in the grass...

I was jolted from my reverie by a small folded-up note that landed on my desk. Looking around, there was no one looking in my direction, but when I opened up the note I recognized the handwriting of my other best friend, Miki.

_Slept late, huh? Don't worry, you didn't miss anything except his intro. He seems pretty nice when you don't come in late though. Just a tip. _I looked up at met Miki's eyes from two rows away. She smiled at me and turned back to drawing in her notebook. From my view, it looked like clothes. Typical Miki. She always was designing _something. _

The next few hours blurred together. Even though we were _supposed _to be working on the assignment Nikaidou-sensei had written on the board, I didn't feel the need to start right away. What can I say? Considering this morning, I knew I shouldn't have started a reputation with this teacher, but I never had been a prude, perfect little girl.

It was this reputation that saved me.

The silence in the classroom was perfect for some sleeping. Or at least a little mind rest. I crossed my arms over the desk and rest my cheek on my make-shift headrest, with my pencil sticking eraser up out of my hair. It _was _so beautiful outside, and the city beyond the school field looked inviting. As I stared out into the distance, a sudden movement caught my eye. There was a crow, huge and ugly, and it was squawking like crazy. It was also flying at an odd angle..

It was flying right at me. No, it was flying at the window. It was going to hit it! I bit my lip and sat back sharply, and looked around the room. No one was looking in my direction, no one was going to see it but me. I swung back to the window and had to bite back a scream.

The crow had been beaten- no, _crushed-_ into the window. As if to be superimposed into the glass. And it was still alive. It stared at me, one eye glaring through the glass straight into my own. Then, after a few moments of our staring contest, it's wings flapped and it began to move again. A wild caw tore from it's throat, and in a wild rush it disappeared.

_What the hell was _that _about? _

As the bell rang for lunch, I felt the whole world that had slurred into black and white in my thoughts come back into focus. I had spent the rest of the time freaking out mentally about that crow... which ended up with me getting in trouble with Nikaidou-sensei for not writing anything. Now I had extra homework, and a completely freaked-out attitude to go with it. Great.

But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get that crow out of my thoughts. I wasn't even sure if it had even happened. Everything went so fast, had the crow even been there? _Of course it had been. Be logical, Amu. Birds just don't exist for one moment and then _not _exist the next. It denies the laws of the universe... But even then, how did it do that? Birds can't just magically stick to walls like Spiderman either. _I bit my lip. Maybe I was just thinking too hard about this. I had to just let it go as one of those weird things everyone experiences in their life. _Right...sure._

In the craze to get out of class, I had lost Ran and Miki. Su, my third best friend, had to be somewhere around here with them. She wasn't in our class this year, but we all found eachother as if we had radars installed. Ran liked to think we did, anyway.

I sucked in a soft breath as my feet made faint tapping noises on the linoleum floors. Damn these polished floors. They were like perfection, mocking me and my un-perfect start of being a sophomore. It just figured.

I burst out the doors of the main building and welcomed the sunlight on me. Anything to soak up my sucky day. I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply, tilting my head back to enjoy the fresh scent of the outside world before heading to my favorite tree. If I lost my three best friends, we would all meet up eventually under the tree. It just worked like that, a secret meeting place for emergencies.

The tree itself was a big, strong oak. It must have been here before the school was built, because there were branches growing out of branches growing out of branches, on and on as it stretched up into the sky. Some days I could almost imagine the tips of the leaves were trying to reach the sun. As I stood at the trunk, I brushed a hand over the endless amount of knots and rollings in the hard, sturdy wood. It felt good, earthy, under my fingertips. I couldn't help but smile a little at that moment.

But then, the tree's leaves began to shake wildly. They rustled as if there was a million squirrels dancing up in the branches. I blinked, and looked up, startled and wondering what could possibly be up in this old tree, this old tree that stood far away from everything else on the school campus. And had to hold back a shout.

It certainly wasn't a squirrel in the tree.

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Ha! How was that for a first chapter? I forgot to tell you guys, this is in Amu's P.O.V... but I think you could have guessed that by now. Anyway, what do you think? I'm a little nervous starting something that isn't Vocaloid. Gimme some feedback! *wink*  
Also, here's a BIG pointer: If you haven't heard of the fanfic '_Face the Music'_ by DeathCat213 then I suggest you go read it. Like now. That story is one of my favorites to go back and read here on FF :) It's beautifully written, and was one of the stories that inspired me to start writing Shugo Chara! fanfics once and for all. So gogogogogo read it!


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